Writings on Politics, Economics and History

Mangini’s Mess – Or How Not to Manage

As a defensive assistant Eric Mangini won three Super Bowls with Bill Belichek’s New England Patriots. In 2006 he became the youngest Head Coach in the NFL. By 2013 he has a reputation for being an incredible asshole–and this article does nothing to dispell the notion. In fact, it reads a how to run a poor organization handbook. Micromanagement was ripe. Players became assets.

Nate Jackson played over half a decade in the NFL, and after 5 years with the Denver Broncos he signed with the Cleveland Browns and the recently hired Eric Mangini. He walked into an organization defined by mistrust and micromanagement. Over the course of 2 seasons Mangini complied a .313 winning percentage. He was prompty fired. “Being a head football coach is not about being a strategic genius,” Jackson wrote. “Every coach in the NFL knows football strategy. It’s about leading a group of grown men toward a tangible goal and treating them with the respect their sacrifice deserves.”